Central Michigan University received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the latest in a series of grants from the EPA with $30 million being awarded to CMU since 2010 in support of coastal wetland monitoring. Read the full story by Epicenter Mt. Pleasant.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-wetlands-epa
The wetlands are a major part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s H2Ohio initiative to improve Lake Erie water quality, but there has been controversy as some doubt it will serve that purpose. Read the full story by WTVG – TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-wetlands-restoration
The Great Lakes News Collaborative noted in February that experts view the state, with its abundant supply of fresh water, as a likely refuge for climate migrants. Though the collaborative found that, in many cases, the coordinated, long-range preparation for climate change has not been done. Read the full story by GreatLakesNow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-great-lakes-climate-change
The USACE Buffalo District and its contractor Michigan-based Great Lakes Dock & Materials, L.L.C have completed the repair work to the east breakwater in Great Sodus Harbor in Wayne County, NY. Repairs include 525 feet steel sheet pile wall providing protection critical to reduce the rate of erosion. Read the full story by DredgingToday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-erosion-new-york
During a virtual meeting with people from Niagara and Orleans counties, the New York Department of State explained the Clear Program, and its goal of creating long term measures to protect the shoreline from extreme lake water levels. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-ontario-water-levels
Researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. found that from 1980 to 2017, oxygen levels fell by about five per cent near the surface and 19 per cent in deep waters. Raising concern among scientists about the health of aquatic life. View images by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-climate-change-oxygen
Rebecca Esselman, a 20-year conservation veteran and executive director of the nonprofit Huron River Watershed Council discusses the status of PFAS, per and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals known to be persistent in the environment and Michigan’s recent lack of transparency in alerting citizens about PFAS. Read the full story by GreatLakesNow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-pfas-pollution
Cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo will still be livable as the climate changes, and have the space to absorb climate migrants. Read the full story by Fast Company.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-climate-change
The University of Wisconsin-Superior is studying whether year-round shipping might someday be possible at the Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior. The study will look at decreasing ice on the Great Lakes due to climate change and the construction of a new lock in the Soo Locks. Read the full story by KBJR TV Channel 6 in Duluth.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210611-shipping
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Natural Resources issued new consumption warnings Wednesday for fish taken from the Yahara chain of lakes and waterways in Dane and Rock counties after tests showed elevated levels of PFAS contamination.
The advisories apply to fish taken from Wingra and Starkweather creeks, lakes Monona, Kegonsa, Waubesa, Upper and Lower Mud lakes and the Yahara River downstream to the Rock River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-wisconsin-dnr-pfas-fish-consumption-warning/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
State lawmakers will return to Springfield next week to take up two controversial issues that stalled in the final hours of the spring session: a statewide energy package and an elected Chicago school board.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/energy-illinois-senate-energy-plan-enbridge-protests-minnesota-solar-ohio/
By Darby Hinkley/The Alpena News
This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.
ROGERS CITY — BEN gets around.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/autonomous-vessel-rogers-city-lake-huron/
THIS WEEK: Bills Will Allow Sand and Gravel Mining Near Residential Areas + Scientists are Awarded $1 million to Fight Microplastics + Low Precipitation Contributes to Loss of 25 Trillion Gallons in Great Lakes + Federal Ban on PFAS in Food Packaging Introduced
Michigan Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, announced he has introduced new bills that would permit gravel companies to operate closer to residential areas and move the approval process of mining permits away from local governments to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). We fear the proposed legislation lacks strong language that would allow EGLE to deny a permit based on impact to water quality and other community concerns. Michigan residents please contact your representative to encourage them to vote no and allow communities the few protections they currently have around sand and gravel mining.
Where microplastics originate and how they travel will be the focus of a $1 million study by a group of Canadian universities. One component of the study is to identify microplastic’s fingerprints, allowing them to determine where they came from and more about how this pervasive pollution migrates.
After staggering high lake levels last year, there is a noticeable drop in lake water levels. Mainly due to below-average rain and snow, the Great Lakes lost 25 trillion gallons of water in one-year. Rivers connecting one Great Lake to another continue to have average flows whereas tributaries to the Great Lakes have greatly reduced flows. For example, the Detroit River has an average flow of 111% and the Grand River in Grand Rapids, a tributary to Lake Michigan, is at 48% flow. These wild swings are another symptom of climate change.
One of the most direct ways people are exposed to the toxic chemicals called PFAS is in food packaging and water. Exposure to these chemicals builds in our body and can lead to a variety of health problems. A federal ban on the use of PFAS in food packaging may soon be introduced by Michigan Congresswoman, Debbie Dingell.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/freshwater-weekly/freshwater-weekly-june-11-2021/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261A64A4F4C.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261A64A87F0WI.GRBSPSGRB.76247907d4fa9f04f3b904dfebbea15d
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI1261A64A29CC.SpecialWeatherStatement.1261A64A60E0WI.GRBSPSGRB.c89926a3e5a61a2810957d8d4db519f5
Back in 2004, when I worked for Minnesota Sea Grant, I was part of an effort to eradicate “feral” goldfish that had been flourishing in a pond on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. The two-acre Rock Pond drained into a trout stream, which led to Lake Superior. Although it’s unlikely the goldfish would have survived in Lake Superior, they are illegal to release into waterways, and it’s not a good idea to have them swimming around in trout streams or a Great Lake.
After considering all options, a plan was put into place to drain the pond and compost the goldfish. At that same time, we were in the middle of developing “Habitattitude,” a national educational campaign that sought to prevent the release of aquarium and water garden fish and plants. Developed by Sea Grant, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council and involving large aquarium fish retailers such as PetCo, Wal-Mart and others, the campaign is still active today.
We decided Rock Pond would make a perfect pilot test of the new campaign logo and messages. After all, we didn’t want to clean up the pond only to have goldfish find their mysterious way back into it. For several years, we targeted the college students a few weeks before they left for the summer with emails, fliers in residence halls, and signs near the pond offering information about alternatives to releasing their unwanted pets.
It seemed to work well. As far as I know, the pond has not been infested with goldfish since. But I suppose you’re wondering why I referenced “murder” in the title of this story. Well, let me tell you a story behind the story.
After Rock Pond was drained, my supervisor at the time, Minnesota Sea Grant Assistant Director Jeff Gunderson, was back in his office looking over photos he took. He noticed something strange. He called me and our invasive species coordinator, Doug Jensen, into his office. He enlarged a section of a photo that seemed to show something white in the bottom of the pond.
“What does this look like to you?” Gunderson asked.
Jensen and I looked at the image and then looked at each other in disbelief. “That looks like a human skull!” I said.
We examined the image some more and came to consensus that yes, it very well could be a skull, half-buried in the mud.
Adrenaline coursed through my Sea Grant science communicator’s heart. We could have a murder mystery on our hands. Murder, combined with aquatic invasive species, what a wonderous and newsworthy combination!
What happened after that is a bit blurry in my memory, but I think we alerted the campus police and Gunderson sent them the photo. They investigated quickly. The result? Yes, it was a skull . . .
BUT, it was a plastic skull – like one a person would use for Halloween or some sort of occult ritual. (It had symbols carved into it.)
We were a bit deflated by the news, but also happy that no one had met their demise in the pond with the goldfishes.
It just goes to show that even with projects as routine as combatting invasive species, exciting things can happen.
The post Murder and Aquatic Invasive Species? first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/murder-and-aquatic-invasive-species/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=murder-and-aquatic-invasive-species
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (June 10, 2021)—In a win for clean water, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is pleased to see that the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed the Water Quality and Protection and Job Creation Act out of committee, with a bipartisan vote of 42 to 25. The bill provides $50 billion over the course of five years to help communities with clean water infrastructure.
“This bill is a much-needed step forward in addressing our region’s failing water infrastructure that is threatening the health of our communities,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We are grateful for the leadership of Reps. Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). “We urge the full House to pass and fund this bill so that we can get to work addressing our water infrastructure crisis, revitalizing the economy, and ensuring safe, clean, and affordable water is available to all.”
H.R. 1915, if passed, would:
On June 1, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition submitted a letter of support for the proposed amendment to the bill, emphasizing clean water needs for the Great Lakes region while also prioritizing climate resilience and investments in our most vulnerable communities.
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 160 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
CONTACT: Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113
The post Momentous Occasion: $50 Billion Water Infrastructure Bill Advances in House appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/momentous-occasion-50-billion-water-infrastructure-bill-advances-in-house/
For Rebecca Esselman, the mission is clear even if there isn’t a big spotlight on her work.
Her goal is to protect the Huron River and its environs, a diverse 900 square miles of land that includes farmland, urban centers, suburban sprawl and intact forest. The river itself runs for 125 miles before emptying into Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/michigan-watershed-council-support-municipal-boundaries/
By Julie Riddle, The Alpena News
This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.
ALPENA — Sailors aboard Great Lakes freighters got a shot in the arm when nurses in Sault Ste.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ship-vaccinations-freighters-covid-19/
What does Michigan’s future look like if we adequately prepare the state’s water resources for climate change? Goodbye to septics and shore-hugging homes. Hello to more diversified crops on Michigan farms.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/michigan-climate-future-wetland-parks-infrastructure-agriculture/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/grb/grb_meteorologists_careers
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/061101_severestorm
Prarthana Shankar gets around, and it’s all in the name of science. She has moved from tropical southern India, to California, to Oregon. Her next stop? The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota.
Shankar is one of the latest fellows in a partnership with the EPA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its Aquatic Sciences Center. The goal of the three-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows program is to train the next generation of scientists in environmental and ecosystem health. Shankar’s position will last two years.
Along with her EPA mentors Gary Ankley and Dan Villeneuve, Shankar has been working from her home in Oregon since May to understand the risks that per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) pose to freshwater fish and ecosystems. She plans to use fathead minnows and zebrafish in her studies.
Prarthana Shankar, submitted photo.
“In the past few weeks, I’ve developed an interest in understanding the thyroid system,” Shankar said. “PFAS have been shown to have negative effects on the thyroid system, so I’ll be testing that and also seeing if they have higher-level impacts such as on the growth of the fishes.”
PFAS are a class of chemicals of emerging concern. PFAS exposure is linked to human health concerns, including compromised immunity, low birth weight, endocrine disruption and cancer. These chemicals get into the environment from sources like firefighting foam and industrial processes.
Shankar credits her dentist father for her love of science. “He was the kind of person who would look through my school biology books and talk to me about the concepts,” she said.
After growing up in India, Shankar had an opportunity to come to the U.S. to study, which she did. It was then she realized she loved the environment and wanted to be involved in ecological research. She eventually enrolled in California State University-Fullerton, where she majored in biology with a minor in chemistry.
While there, she was chosen for the Southern California Ecosystems Research Program (SCERP), which allows scholars to work on independent projects and present their work at conferences, concluding with a thesis.
“The SCERP program is what really got me into doing research and gave me my first experience in a lab setting,” Shankar said.
Shankar then moved onto Oregon State University in Corvallis, where she completed her Ph.D. program earlier this year. She studied the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (a class of chemicals that occur naturally in substances such as coal, oil and gas) on zebrafish.
Due to the pandemic, she has not moved to the EPA office in Duluth yet, but looks forward to it in a few months. She has even learned how to cross-county ski in preparation. “This postdoc position is the perfect opportunity to combine my work with my passion for the environment. Corvallis is the coldest place I’ve lived up until now. Moving to Duluth is going to be an adventure!”
The post EPA Fellow’s world travels lead to Duluth first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/epa-fellows-world-travels-lead-to-duluth/
Marquette, Michigan is getting an extra 1,000 feet of Lake Superior shoreline for free in a deal with a utility company. The Marquette City Commission recently voted to accept the land gift from the utility We Energies. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-beach
The Conservation Fund confirmed it would resume repopulation efforts of lake sturgeon, including a return trip to Michigan’s Cass River with a new delivery of the fish. The repopulation efforts work toward a long-term goal to reverse the effects that dropped the number of lake sturgeon. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-sturgeon
Extraordinarily dry weather and low water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have prompted officials to cut outflows at the Moses-Saunders Power Dam in Massena, New York and to host two open forums to discuss the issue with the public. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-ijc
U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur from Toledo, Ohio emphasizes the importance of agriculture in Northern Ohio and calls for assistance for farmers. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-kaptur
Researchers at Michigan State University are studying changes in the Great Lakes shoreline. To track the changes, MSU is enlisting the help of special volunteers across the state to fly drones with special cameras to capture the changes on the lakefronts. Read the full story by WILX-TV- East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-drones
With the help of anglers and a sophisticated tracking system, scientists have been able to track the whereabouts of difficult to catch sportfish. The tracking system is a collaboration between numerous agencies and provides information on how fish travel hundreds of miles. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-muskie
Environmental opponents of Line 5 on Tuesday unveiled ads on TV and radio featuring actor and Michigan native Jeff Daniels lambasting it as “an aging, dangerous pipeline” that needs to be shut down for good. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-line5-ads
The lake levels are expected to continue to fall over the next six months, but that doesn’t mean things are getting much better. The shorelines are naturally eroding at a pace of a foot or two feet per year. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV-Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-erosion
Rain that fell on Ohio this spring contained a surprisingly high amount of toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, according to raw data from a binational Great Lakes monitoring program that tracks airborne pollution. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210609-pfas-rain
Great Lakes Now’s work that appeared on-air, online, and through social media and audience engagement events garnered several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists – metro Detroit chapter.
The honors were announced in a virtual ceremony last night.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Sandra Svoboda, program director for the initiative, which includes a monthly TV program carried on dozens of PBS channels and hundreds of Canadian cable providers as well as the GreatLakesNow.org website, an educational initiative and dozens of annual events including Facebook watch parties.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/2021-spj-awards/
A look at Peninsula Point in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The post Butterflies, beaches & a lighthouse first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/06/09/butterflies-beaches-a-lighthouse/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202105
MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — The largest city in the Upper Peninsula is getting 1,000 feet of valuable shoreline along Lake Superior.
The Marquette City Commission recently voted to accept the land at no cost from We Energies, a utility, the Mining Journal reported.
“There’s no contamination that we’re aware of and we’re not taking on a problem area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-marquette-1000-feet-great-lakes-beach/
MICHIGAMME TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A conservation corridor with links to existing protected areas is planned for a remote region in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula.
The nonprofit Nature Conservancy said the 6,172-acre (2,497-hectare) Wilderness Lakes Reserve in the Michigamme Highlands area is being expanded by 4,854 acres (1,964 hectares) of forest and wetlands.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-conservation-corridor-planned-michigan/
By Darby Hinkley, The Alpena News
This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.
ALPENA — A trio of researchers who have been studying the Alpena-Amberley Ridge are joined this month by a group of undergraduate students from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/marine-archaeology-research-texas-lake-huron-shipwrecks/
Over the next two decades, Indiana will need more than $13 billion to repair or replace aging water and wastewater infrastructure according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which said the Biden administration’s budget plan is a step in the right direction. Read the full story by Indiana Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-biden-budget
A pair of piping plovers are nesting at Maumee Bay State Park in Lucas County, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. This is an exciting development for a species that is listed as federally and state endangered and has not had a documented nest in Ohio in at least 80 years. Read the full story by The Scioto Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-ohio-beach
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has awarded $4.7 million dollars in grants for watershed management projects across the state. Read the full story by WFQX-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-funding
Beneath the waters of Lake Michigan sit the remains of approximately 20 shipwrecks. While the majority are only accessible to those willing to dive beneath the waves, there are a handful that can be seen from the shoreline, and one such sunken ship recently decided it no longer wished to remain at its location, “setting sail” on an unprecedented journey. Read the full story by The Vintage News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-sunken-ship
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold five workshops this month to assist those who live in communities along the Lake Ontario shoreline with planning and long-term protective measures in the event of periodic extreme water levels. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-ontario-water
An endangered shorebird may get a reprieve after facing threats from high water on the Great Lakes, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says there’s now more suitable habitat for piping plover to nest as lake levels are subsiding. Read the full story by Radio Iowa.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-plover-chicks
An experiment is underway at a Mississippi River to see if sound can keep invasive carp from moving through a lock and dam near Keokuk, Iowa. Read the full story by Radio Iowa.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-carp-testing
An experiment is underway at a Mississippi River to see if sound can keep invasive carp from moving through a lock and dam near Keokuk, Iowa. Read the full story by Radio Iowa.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210607-carp-testing
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
The United States and Canada now have over 40 years of collaborative history in use of an ecosystem approach to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/international-ecoystem-approach-restoration-great-lakes/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/ncei-collaborates-north-american-drought-indices-and-indicators-assessment
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Algal blooms have forced health officials to close five Madison-area beaches.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that the first tests of the season revealed blue-green algae blooms at beaches at BB Clarke, Olbrich and Warner parks and the Hudson Park lake access point.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/ap-algae-blooms-wisconsin-beaches/
There’s a bird emergency in the Great Lakes region, according to the National Audubon Society, but the nonprofit bird conservation organization is hoping to change that.
“This really is a bird emergency,” said Nat Miller, Audubon Great Lakes’ director of conservation. “We don’t think that’s hyperbole. As often is the case, birds currently serve as an indicator for larger environmental problems and today they’re telling us it’s a critical time now to act to save the wildlife, water and way of life in the Great Lakes region.”
In an effort to reduce this alarming trend, scientists and conservationists with The National Audubon Society recently released a wide-ranging and comprehensive blueprint to address climate change, pollution and other detrimental man-made effects on Great Lakes wetlands and coastal areas – and their bird populations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/06/birds-wetlands-coastal-great-lakes-habitat-restoration/
